Understanding your customers better than they understand themselves is the key to success. Insight into the customer’s digital behaviour is increasingly becoming a game changer when it comes to giving customers the unique and personal buying experience.

Many people mistakenly believe that disruption is about technology and that you have to be a geeky entrepreneur to be successful in developing your business in the digital world. But disruption is about all but technology. It is a management discipline.

Disruption hits all industries, from free newspapers, car sharing and low-cost telecommunications. We all know examples from Airbnb and Apple, but disruption is not just something from Silicon Valley; it happens everywhere. Columbus’ CEO Thomas Honoré is co-author of the book Disrupt or die, which is released on May 9.

Everything went well! Through the years, companies had positioned themselves in the market, the competitors’ strategies were well known, the customers’ needs were predictable, and even though the competition was tough, there was and understanding of the market dynamics. Then suddenly – out of the blue – an extreme disruption occurred. Today, we call it the digital disruption.

Sometimes you can feel a little old when you think about how life was without smartphones and tablets. This is how I felt recently when I returned from a rewarding business trip. Columbus had just announced the acquisition of the company Dynamics Anywhere, a leading mobility software company. When I came home and told my 17-year old son about the acquisition and the fantastic opportunities it offers our customers, his enthusiasm was not quite the same as mine.